Bittersweet rain forecast for parched Gaborone Dam

Met Services director, Thabang Botshoma, dashed hopes of early relief for the 500,000 or so residents of Greater Gaborone when he unveiled the 2014/15 seasonal rainfall forecast indicating mixed fortunes for the southern and eastern regions.

Botshoma’s forecast comes as Gaborone Dam reaches its lowest point in its 50-year history at under nine percent. While the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources expects the Dam to fail next month, this could happen anytime as the water continues to recede below the level at which the pumps can tap into it. As Gaborone Dam faces its first failure, the Met Services Department expects the first rains only by mid-November and also forecasts that the whole country will have a shortened rain season.